Comfort
by greensweetpea
Summary: A long week leaves Miles in need of comforting, and Eva might just be the one to give it.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Medical Investigation. I wish I did. Then I'd be able to cuddle Chris Gorham all the time. I'm not making any money from this. If I was I wouldn't be working a crappy high school job.**

The private jet landed smoothly and soon enough the doors were opened by the pilot, but none of N.I.H's top team moved. All of them, bar Eva were asleep, and Eva was doing a last minute clean up of the plane. It had been an excruciatingly long week and to end it with an 18 hour plane flight only made it worse. There were coffee cups everywhere, papers strewn haphazardly about and what she though was a pizza box from the trip over, but couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, it was green, furry, and just had to go.

The sound of someone yawning made Eva turn to see Miles stretching and rubbing his eyes.

"Hi," he murmured, and smiled.

She smiled back. "Hey, sleepyhead."

He looked as if he might make a comeback but didn't. He stood, and looked around him. "This place is a mess."

She nodded and went back to her cleaning. After a minute, Miles came and joined her. They worked quietly and efficiently until the plane was respectable once more, and then disembarked the plane, Miles carrying a bag of things to be put in the nearest trash can.

The walk from the tarmac to headquarters seemed to Eva to take hours, battling against the harsh wind and the rain that was falling. The bright lights hurt her eyes and she shivered and paused for a moment. Miles stopped and turned to her, then without saying a word came and put his coat around her shoulders.

"Thanks," she smiled at him.

"You're welcome," he said, as they began to walk again.

Once inside, Miles deposited the trash into a bin, and headed downstairs to the office he, Eva and Natalie shared. He sat down at his desk, and looked over the mass of papers strewn on it. Sighing, he put his head in his hands.

"This might help," he heard Eva say, and looked up to find her holding him a cup of something warm.

He took the cup, and grinned at her. "You're an angel."

She laughed. "No, just quick with a coffee machine." She took a seat at her own desk. "A week saving lives and this is what we get?" She groaned. "I've chosen the wrong job."

Miles nodded and sipped his coffee, and then grabbed the first pile of papers. He began to read, highlighting in green as he went.

Three hours later, Eva shut her laptop and looked over at Miles. He was still reading, but his head was dropping a little. Natalie had stuck her head round the door earlier to say that the rest of the team were going home, and could they please lock up when they left. Miles had nodded, and gone back to his reading.

Eva stood up. "Come on, kid. Let's get out of here." She began to put the things she needed into her bag.

Miles put his papers down, and looked at her. "One, don't call me kid," he snapped, "Two, No; I've got to finish this."

She shrugged. "Fine, suit yourself. I **was** going to offer you a lift home, but if that's how you're going to be..."

Miles instantly regretted snapping at her, and it wasn't just that he needed a lift home. He winced. "I'm sorry. I'm just really tired, and I can't finish my report until I've done th-"

Eva cut him off. "Don't worry about it. Your report can wait, you need to sleep." She held out his jacket. "The sooner we leave, the sooner you can be tucked up in bed."

Eva parked outside Miles' apartment, and looked up at the building. No lights were on.

Miles undid his seatbelt. "Thanks," he began, "not just for the lift home, you know, but for your help this week."

She smiled, a maternal kind of smile, and for a split second Miles found himself wishing she didn't just see him as a kid to look after.

"You're welcome. It was a tough case. You did well." She leant over and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Miles felt himself colour, a little, and mentally scolded himself. "Night," he said, as he got out of the car.

Eva watched and waited as he jogged to the doorway, and then saw him hit his hand to his forehead and say what she assumed was a cuss word.

He returned a moment later, and she opened the door for him. "Did you just cuss?" she asked him teasingly. He rolled his eyes.

"I forgot they're painting our apartments this weekend. I meant to make reservations for a hotel, but then…" He sighed.

"It's ok. You can stay at my place; I've got a sofa bed." She spoke softly, and he could see she was smiling at him in the dim light.

He climbed back in beside her, and thanked her awkwardly. Miles cursed himself mentally, feeling like his thanks were inadequate. Here he was, so far from his home town, needing someone to show compassion towards him, and she was doing just that, and he didn't know what to say. Internally, he smacked his hand to his forehead once more.


	2. Chapter 2

Eva's place was, unlike Miles had expected, a house, not an apartment. Somehow Miles had never pictured her as the type to own her own house, and the look on his face must have said so, because as she was unlocking the front door she said "I bought this place with my inheritance." Miles stepped in after her, glad to be out of the wind and the rain. He shut the doorway and looked around him. "It's nice," he said, and he meant it.

Eva smiled. "Thanks. I did most of the decorating myself." She took her coat off and hung it up, motioning for him to do the same. "Are you hungry? I think I might reheat some soup." She walked into the kitchen area, turning the lights on as she went. Miles followed. "Soup would be good. Is there anything I can do to help?"

She thought for a moment. "Not really, no. Just sit down and relax, you look exhausted."

He sat on a stool at the bench and watched as she heated up the soup and made some toast. She passed him a bowl and sat down across from him. The steam from the soup wafted up to his face and warmed his chilled features. She handed him a spoon and offered him the toast, and watched as he hesitated before eating.

As if she knew what he was thinking, she said "Don't worry. It's made with vegetable stock. I prefer vegetable stock to chicken or beef." He smiled, and took a spoonful. He swallowed and felt the warmth of the soup spread throughout him.

"It's good."

"Thanks. I bet you're just saying that to be nice though."

"No, I mean it. It's really good."

She smiled kind of shyly and he smiled back. "I'm glad you like it."

They ate quietly for a few moments, before he said, "Is there anything you can't do? You can make decent coffee, cook, decorate, and sit through hour-long press conferences… sure you're not Wonder Woman in a disguise?"

She blushed, and laughed a little. "There are things I can't do."

He grinned. "Like what?"

"Um, oh, I can't sew, I failed textiles in 8th grade, um, I can't do algebraic equations, I can't sing…Besides, like you can talk, Mr-I-Did-Pre-Med-in-half-the-time-it-normally-takes."

He had to laugh at that. "Oh, and I missed out on the "college experience" because of it.' He made the quote marks as he spoke light-heartedly, but they both knew he didn't remember college fondly.

"It doesn't seem to have done you much harm", she mused.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean," she said as she stood up and reached for his now empty bowl, "that you turned out fine." It was lucky she turned away to put the bowls in the dishwasher so he could hide the emotions that quickly bubbled to the surface. She turned back around. "Now, let's get that bed made for you."

15 minutes later, she had made the bed for him, and had disappeared momentarily. She returned, carrying a sweatshirt that was far too big for her. "I figured your stuff would be pretty dirty by now. You can wear this if you want to." She held it out to him.

He took it. "Thanks." He turned it over and saw the Yale logo on it. "I didn't know you went to Yale…"

She shook her head. "I didn't."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It was my fiancée's…"

"Oh. I didn't know you were married."

"Engaged, actually. He broke it off when I took the job with the N.I.H", she said, briskly, "Said I was 'working too much'."

"Why'd you keep the job then?"

"The same reason we all do, Miles, because we'd be bored otherwise."

An awkward silence fell between them, before he said, "I suppose I'd better get some sleep."

"Yeah. Night."

She paused long enough before leaving to see him turn his back to her and pull the shirt he was wearing off, over his head, showing his slender figure. She couldn't help but think she'd like to see more of him without clothes, and blushed furiously.

Eva lay awake, listening to the house creak in the wind. The rain sounded nice and soothing on the roof, but she still found it hard to sleep, knowing Miles was only a few metres away from her, knowing that walls were all that separated them. In all the time she'd known him she hadn't felt like this, and as much as she tried to convince herself it was just the result of another long week in close confines, she was pretty sure it wasn't. She got out of bed, and pulled a hoodie over her tank top, slipping on slippers before padding out to the lounge where Miles was. In the dark he looked like he was sleeping, but surprised her when he rolled over and said "Eva?"

She sat on the edge of the sofa bed. "Can't you sleep?" he asked.

She shook her head. He sat up and moved over to her, making her conscious of how close they were. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head again. "Not really, no."

He moved his hands to her shoulders and massaged them gently. "What was your favourite film when you were younger?"

She turned to face him. "What?"

"What was your favourite film when you were younger?"

"It was _Thoroughly Modern Millie_, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you have a copy of it still?

"Um, I think so. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Sometimes when you're upset it's nice to watch films you loved when you were growing up, or books you read…"

"Oh."

"Sorry, it was a stupid idea."

"No, it wasn't. Is it OK if I watch it? You could go sleep in my bed if you wanted."

"I don't mind. I was having trouble sleeping anyway."

Eva got up, and turned a little lamp on, then went hunting through the cabinet under the TV. She emerged, a little dusty, but victorious after a few minutes. "Aha! Found it!" She put it into the player, and turned the TV on before returning to the sofa bed. She wriggled back to where Miles sat and hit play.


End file.
